Butter preparation methods represent some of the oldest techniques for utilizing fat components that are found in milk. Butter manufacture has been accomplished in one form or another for over 4500 years. Butter production techniques generally evolved from an individual farm activity to a factory-based technique with the introduction of milk pooling systems for creamery operation in the 1870s. Later advances in fat quantification techniques, pasteurization, refrigeration, and bacterial culture usage further advanced the art of butter production. Advances in butter production technology helped make butter a staple item in the kitchen. Certain components of butter, such as protein and lactose, give desirable browning characteristics to baked goods.
In some cases, butter may be used to produce brown butter in the kitchen by slowly melting whole butter in a saucepan over heat to cook off water and to brown the remaining milk solids in the reduced butter. Brown butter typically has a nutty flavor and aroma and is brown in color. However, making brown butter in a saucepan is difficult because the solids can burn during the browning process due to the browning reaction increasing in intensity to cause scorching, which gives the butter negative organoleptic qualities such as a charred taste and a black appearance. Cookbooks commonly warn chefs to continuously watch the butter in the saucepan and immediately remove the butter from heat, but nonetheless, even skilled chefs commonly burn butter when attempting the browning process.